Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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While listening to the radio one day this week, I heard a notice regarding the date the Hi-line Wool Pool would be shipping wool. Two thoughts crossed my mind. The first being that it was really early in the year to be shipping wool, and the other was that of shipping wool with the Valley County Wool Pool. Shipping day for the Wool Pool. Remember when shearing was done after the ewes were done lambing? That was a noisy, confusing time for the young lambs. Imagine how different “mommy” looked after being submitted to the clippers. Now she...
Do you remember when the “Cops” walked their beat? That is a phrase from the past, as I am not sure just what the word “beat” meant, but I assume it would be a designated area they patrolled each day or night. That was back when the young ones were taught that policemen were their friends. I know that there were a number of men who served our city and county as police officers, but there are several that come to my mind, those being Mr. Abern, Mr. Sather and Mr. Baynum. My husband often shares a memory of his first exposure with local policem...
Remember politics from years past? I do try to stay clear of any mention of politics or religion in my articles, but I cannot believe how much I have learned about our election process in just this last year. Do I not remember correctly (that is a distinct possibility)? I don’t recall learning about the many fine points or potential means of selecting a candidate to run for President. I do remember those classes in junior high and high school, and my perception at the time was that all U.S. citizens had the honored privilege and duty to v...
Being retired I decided to take in a 4-H Statewide shooting event. This event covered various classes of air rifles, pistols and archery. As a parent and grandparent, I have taken in my share of 4-H activities, but this was new and interesting to me. Of course having two grandsons involved sparked my interest, along with the fact I have never seen this part of 4-H. It was a great trip and fun experience. I departed Glasgow via Amtrak. I had almost a three-hour wait at our Glasgow depot and had lots of time to process memories of train trips,...
Have you ever wondered why the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs are a part of our Easter observance and tradition? I did take the time to check that out this morning before going on this little trip down memory lane. The wonders of the present day; I can sit in my chair with a cup of coffee and get all of that information. While I have absolutely convinced myself that I am not going to get a “Smart Phone,” I also realize how much easier they have made “instant knowledge.” I now have an interpretation I like, and for those of you who have let that q...
This past week brought to my mind several March occasions and how they were recognized not many years ago. I am sure that there are many Glasgow residents who remember a local attorney who always recognized St Patrick’s Day by presenting many locals with a green carnation. Since this gentleman was Irish I am sure it was his way of reminding us of this important day recognizing the Irish. Maybe his enthusiasm for the day inspired others to join in by sporting fun green attire. Corned beef and cabbage still seems to be on the menu for many and I...
There have been a lot of Facebook entries circulating concerning “The Green Thing” and yes, most of us do remember and wonder if we have truly progressed in our lives. I am sure there are quite a few area residents that can remember the days before electricity was a “given” in our homes. Although I am sure that was all a part of my first years of life on the farm. I do remember not having the luxuries we now enjoy. I also remember what a treat I thought it was to spend the night with some friends of the family. These friends did not have el...
I remember being a kid and having my mom telling me what could happen if I didn’t learn to be good. The very worst case scenario was to be put in jail and being fed only bread and water. I couldn’t even imagine! Bread and Water only. I could envision the glass of water, but I was never sure in my mind if your bread would come cut into pieces, or just one big slice. The good point was, it was probably homemade bread. Some years later I lived in the small town of Opheim and got to see the local jail on a daily basis. Yes, I was even in it onc...
The picture in the Feb. 3 issue of the Glasgow Courier triggers some additional memories concerning the early day sheep and wool industry. Many of our Western states, including Montana, grew and prospered because of sheep. If you sit down with area history books you will find that many of our early day residents, as well as present day cattle ranchers, got their start with sheep. We may have a few local residents who can remember how wool was transported before grain trucks and semis were on the scene. Wool was an important source of income...
Do you remember the days before UPS and FedEx, or even before airplane mail delivery? Online shopping has become the thing, and you can have your parcel delivered to your doorstep in two days! Some of us remember when all mail came by train (no, I am not going back to Pony Express). One of our readers was remembering when their family received walnuts and fruit from relatives in states where those items were for the picking. These arrived by train, and that individual’s family lived close to a train station in a little community. The train w...
One of the great things about growing up and living in the same community most of your life is the opportunity to “Remember” with others who recall the same memories. I enjoy the opportunity to visit with readers, and have them share with me. Recently one of the Courier readers was commenting on warm footwear of the past, mentioning the sheep (fleece) lined boots and felt boots that were worn. Yes, I also remember seeing that footwear during the winter. Of course these were not the outerwear, but usually worn inside bulky rubber overshoes. Ano...
I love seeing the pictures of old Glasgow buildings, or other historical places that are often in the Courier. I am sure that comes as a shock when you consider that I like remembering the “old stuff”. The old County Courthouse often comes to mind, as it is prominent in a lot of pictures of Glasgow in an earlier era. Remember when you licensed your vehicles in January and February. I don’t recall the cut of date for updating your plates, but I do remember that you could count on finding a line of people at the Treasurer’s office. This was pro...
Do you remember the days when most of the livestock feeding during the winter months was done using a team of horses or mules? Once there was snow on the ground a Bobsled was used. Most of us can picture a team of horses pulling a wagon. Thanks to various members of our community we have had the privilege of seeing a team of horses pulling a wagon, usually at Christmas time or parades. The wagons used for feeding on snow did not have 4X4 drive, but were equipped with sled runners both front and back allowing for easier pulling. Feeding...
It is the time to be thinking of New Year Resolutions. I searched my mind for anything I might remember about these resolutions and the only thing I could remember is the fact few of us keep them for very long. So I decided long ago to not make that effort. I did discover the fact that resolutions for the New Year started some 4,000 years ago. I don’t think many of them were kept for long either, as it seemed most of them had to do with finance and debt. Yes, even then. So my mind has skipped over the resolution issue to other memories. Do y...
That last little rain we had made me think about digging out my overshoes, and then I remembered, my overshoes are pretty much like everyone else’s today, either irrigation boots or Muck boots. Do you remember when we all wore rubber overshoes? As I remember, the most popular women’s overshoes were those lovely, zip up the front, fur topped ones. They could be found in a variety of colors also. The young kids pretty much wore pull-on overshoes. Some of the little boys and, of course, teenage boys and men may have had buckle overshoes. This app...
Do you remember the days of manual transmissions, or ever further back, to a crank-starting vehicle? I was thinking of earlier days, when children often spent the day in the field with Mom and Dad. Daycare consisted of the children riding in whatever vehicle or machinery was being used at the time, or maybe they had a “spot” for play nearby. Of course leaving children in a vehicle has always been a safety issue, but back in those days there wasn’t much chance the little ones were going to get the car/pickup started and moving. I am sure the lit...
I am a rock enthusiast of sorts. I like flat rocks and character rocks, and my sense of character may be entirely different from anyone else. This interest in rocks brings to mind the many hours that farmers have spent clearing ground of rocks in order to till the ground. I am sure there are some who remember rocks being removed from areas using a team of horses pulling a sled-type thing, which was called a “stone boat.” Imagine the backbreaking work this was, and I am pretty sure it involved the whole family. As you travel the highways or rur...
Remember when most livestock was transported using pickups and stock racks? This was the usual method of getting horses to pasture for moving cattle, and it was likely you would see many pickups with stock racks at rodeos. If you had a couple of cows, bulls, or pigs to move to market this was the transportation mode. Trucks (the western terminology of truck) with stock racks were also quite commonly seen at the local sales yard. Then it became quite common to see a single or double horse trailer used for this means of moving a few head of...
I don’t remember a lot about custom combining. I remember that many of them arrived in my hometown about the time school started. Maybe there were some young boys on the crews that accounted for the notice of arrival, but likely it was all of the equipment parked along the outskirts of town. Did they have specific farms on their schedule or did customers come to them? Our community also had local people who put together crews and headed south to custom combine. The string of equipment lined up, ready to leave looked quite different from the p...
Harvest is in full swing, some being about finished, and others just beginning. Being a farm girl, my mind was flooded with “remembers” the other day while doing a little driving off of the beaten path. Now, I grew up in a home where girls were to stay in the house and help their mothers, however we were also expected to go beyond taking meals to the field whenever a truck driver was needed. How many of you remember the frustration of not knowing how to use a clutch correctly and missing a gear of two, or trying to get the truck lined up wit...
When you remember rodeos, just how far back does your mind go? I remember stories of some of the rodeos attended by our early-day cowboys. I heard tell of Valley County's rodeo taking place on the original fairground site. Apparently the first fairgrounds were located near the present day high school. I have also been told that early rodeos lacked the nice fence enclosures we have now. I remember something about cars and other vehicles being parked in a circle of sorts and that was used for the arena. Early rodeos were often held on July Fourth...
Do you remember the hours you spent in grade school drawing circles on lined paper? Actually, I don’t think you would really call them circles, but it was an exercise we all did in preparation of learning cursive writing. I think that we can all recall the cursive writing charts, which were usually located above the black board behind the teacher’s desk. I have noticed that persons that went to the same country school often had very similar handwriting. I can’t come up with any idea of why that might be, but maybe each teacher had a disti...
The Fourth of July will soon be here. Do you remember how you used to celebrate this holiday? You may even remember when it wasn’t a three-day holiday. My thoughts turn to fireworks. Remember when fireworks were done on an island in Fort Peck Lake? You may remember the bumper-to-bumper traffic returning home from the night’s entertainment. That might have been before camping at the lake was so common. There may still be a lot of you that never spent the night camping at Fort Peck or the Pines unless you attended a summer camp there. You may rem...
Do you remember highways from previous days? Of course a lot of them, or maybe I should say all of them, no doubt started out as gravel roads and as traffic and funds allowed, roads were paved, but what I notice as I drive our present highways is the changes made over the years. Of course the width of even our two lanes is much greater than past generations drove, but what interests me are the changes made in the layout of the roads of the past. If you observe, you will notice the grades and bridge abutments of previous roads. I am sure that...
Branding of the current year calf crop has been finished by a lot of our rancher friends. Who remembers the days of a wood fire for the purpose of heating branding irons? I know that many of us have seen an occasional branding using a wood fire, but have you ever wondered about the early day brandings, and just where the wood for these branding fires came from? Sometimes, in the eastern part of our state, we can drive for miles without seeing a tree so it is pretty certain that preparing for those early day brandings must have included wood...
